"Ethnic Nagas in remote northern Myanmar have long provided sanctuary to insurgents who launch armed raids into northeastern India and then retreat back across the border beyond the reach of Indian security forces. Myanmar’s inability or unwillingness to uproot those rebel sanctuaries have been a persistent thorn in the side of the two neighbors’ bilateral relations, contributing to mutual mistrust and suspicion over the years. But that arguably began to change in January, when more than 400 Myanmar troops drove the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K) from its headquarters at Taga in the northern Sagaing Region. NSCN-K shared the camp with militants from the United Liberation Front of Asom [Assam] (ULFA) and other rebel outfits from Manipur in northeastern India fighting against New Delhi’s rule in the Seven Sisters region, a term for the contiguous states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. On June 3, during a press briefing at the Defense Services Museum in the capital of Naypyitaw, Myanmar army Major General Tun Tun Nyi said operations will continue against the NSCN-K and the other India-based insurgent groups it is sheltering. There have been few reported casualties in the assault so far, as the Myanmar military has relied mainly on heavy artillery fire rather than ground offensives to drive the rebels from their camp. Still, the attack has deprived the insurgents of their important camp and sanctuary in Myanmar, and thus will certainly affect their ability to launch cross-border assaults into India as they attempt to regroup while on the run..."